Taywood wins Gehry park pavilion

Taylor Woodrow, the £644m-turnover construction arm of housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey, has won the contract to build the complex timber structure on a 12-week programme, starting immediately, with Savant as project manager.

The project will be the first building designed by US architect Gehry to be built in England.

The temporary pavilion, designed in collaboration with Arup, will serve as both a public space and performance arena. It will contain glass canopies to protect the interior and provide shade, with terraced seating inside and five elevated seating pods around the perimeter.

Tim Peach, managing director of Taylor Woodrow, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside some of the world’s most talented teams to bring Gehry’s visionary scheme into reality. As an example of art meeting engineering, it tests the boundaries of traditional thinking.”

As art meeting engineering, it tests the boundaries of
traditional thinking

Tim Peach, Taylor Woodrow

Gehry said the pavilion’s wooden structure acted as an “urban street running from the park to the existing gallery”. He added: “The pavilion is much like an amphitheatre, designed to serve as a place for live events, music, performance, discussion and debate.”

The project is the ninth scheme in an annual series to be built in Hyde Park. Last year’s summer pavilion was designed by Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen, with previous structures designed by architects including Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond (2006), Daniel Libeskind (2001), and Zaha Hadid (2000).

Gehry’s pavilion will be completed in mid-July.